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Blasting Under Way On Highway 50 Rock Slide

COTOPAXI, Colo. (CBS4)- Crews are blasting large boulders into small pieces for easy removal on the rock slide that is blocking U.S. Highway 50 near Cotopaxi.

The rock slide happened on Monday. It has closed the highway from State Highway 9 at the Royal Gorge to Salida. The road is open to local traffic to Cotopaxi.

The Colorado Department of Transportation is optimistic that the highway will reopen by this weekend, however the process of breaking up the boulders is taking longer than expected.

Rocks are being moved about 12 miles away to a storage area where there is room for them.

Repairs to the highway may be necessary, but it's not known how much damage was caused until the rocks are removed. Damage to the road will be assessed on Thursday.

CDOT said it has no idea how much it will cost to clean up the slide and repair the highway.

Through traffic on Highway 50 is being detoured via State Highway 9 to Hartsel, U.S. 24 west to Johnson's Village, and U.S. 285 south to Salida and Poncha Springs.

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